BOSTON — Thomas P. Guerrieri, 52, the former vice president of sales of Orthofix, Inc., was sentenced yesterday to eight months in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $20,000 and to forfeit $30,000 for paying kickbacks to health care professionals.
Guerrieri, who worked at Orthofix from 2001 to 2010, first as a regional sales director, then area vice president, and ultimately the vice president of sales, admitted that he paid kickbacks to two separate health care professionals, in violation of the Medicare Anti-Kickback Law.
The first kickback was facilitated through a bogus ‘consulting’ agreement with a surgeon in New York, who was paid tens of thousands of dollars but provided little or no consulting services in return. Guerrieri also authorized kickbacks to pay a physician’s assistant in Rhode Island, Michael Cobb, for each bone growth stimulator he ordered.
In addition to the Guerrieri sentence, the Orthofix investigation has, to date, resulted in a number of felony charges against employees and contractors of Orthofix, including the following:
Orthofix was convicted of obstruction of a federal audit in December 2012 and ordered to pay $42 million in criminal fines and civil payments, and was sentenced to probation for five years.
Derrick Field, a former Orthofix territory manager, was sentenced to five months of home confinement as part of a two-year probation sentence in January 2013.
Michael McKay pleaded guilty to health care fraud in May 2012 while he was a territory manager for Orthofix.
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Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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